ON HOSEA XIV. -VERSE 1, 2. 39 shine of the gospel, thousands of persons and families (as I doubt not but upon inquiry it would appear) without the writings of the prophets and apostles : a christian soldier without his sword, a christian builder without his rule and square, a christian calling without the instruments and balances of the sanctuary belong- ing to it ! O therefore that every parish had an endow- ment fit for a learned, laborious, and worthy pastor, and pastors worthy of such endowments! that provi- sion were made that every family might have a bible in it, and (if by law it might possibly be procured) the exercises of religion therewithal ! this would be the surest magazine to secure the happiness of a king- dom : that all reproachful titles, which the devil useth as scarecrows, and whiflere to keep back company from pressing in upon Christ's kingdom, were by law proscribed ! that scandalous sins were by the awful- ness and severity of discipline more blasted and brought to shame ! that the Lord's house were more frequented, and his day more sanctified, and his ordi- nances more reverenced, and his ministers, who teach the good knowledge of the Lord, more encou- raged than ever heretofore ! in one word, that all the several fountains of the commonwealth were settled in a sound and flourishing constitution ! that in every place we might see piety the elm to every other vine, the supporter to every other profession. Learning adorned with piety, and law administered with piety, and counsels managed with piety, and trade regulated with piety, and the plough followed with piety. That when ministers fight against sin, with the sword of God's word, you who are the nobles and gentry of the land, would second them, and frown upon it too ; a * Things that are moved by the wind to frighten birds from the corn. D2
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